Proposition CC advocates, stymied by the apparently irresistible urge of Coloradans to vote against statewide tax increases, should do a deep dive into how school districts pass mills and bonds. They’d get a sense of the arduous effort it takes to educate the public as to the good uses of tax dollars.

Two sets of bond and mill elections in Jefferson County in the early 1990s and the early 2010s are instructive. The common element between the money requests is in the number of times the Jeffco school district asked voters for more money before they got it: three times in each case.

In the 1990s, Jefferson County was in fast growth mode. South Jeffco experienced tremendous, rapid housing expansion and there weren’t enough schools to accommodate all the kids. The district implemented year-round school schedules to get children through the grades. The middle and north part of the county had no need for more schools.

The first bond request to build a new high school and middle school in south Jeffco and to perform upgrades on other schools lost big. Not enough effort went into educating voters. The second attempt lost by only a couple of thousand votes. Progress.

On the third try, the district identified exact capital improvements necessary across the county so every area would benefit from a $150 million bond request. Specific dollars were allocated to teacher salary. Administration dollars, always the object of derision, were constrained. Finally, the bonds and mill increase passed handily.

In the 2010s, the story was exactly the same, except for a reversal of geography. The north section of the county experienced high growth and needed new schools. The request for $300 million in bonds and $39 million for a mill increase passed easily the third time round.

In both cases, on the third go, there was a massive commitment by service organizations, economic development councils, chambers of commerce, district leaders and elected officials to get the taxes passed. The public understood that the money would go to precisely targeted uses, and the district stuck to its promises.

This careful, all-in process is what’s needed to pass statewide tax initiatives. Here are some specific education needs:

• Since 2009, school districts haven’t received enough money to educate all kids to meet the state’s standards, even though that objective is the ostensible goal. Thousands of kids graduate high school requiring remedial work before they can take full-credit college courses. The students have to pay for the remedial classes. At minimum, Coloradans owe these students the cost of the remedial classes and to remain competitive, two years of free community college tuition. Such dollars are specific and productive and can partly fix the education damage done from underfunding public schools.
• Currently, public schools are underfunded by about $3,000 per student when compared to the national average. That means that dollars to support kids who need extra help to meet the state’s education standards are insufficient, and a tax increase could make a big difference.
• Colorado’s public schools don’t pay teachers enough to even vaguely compete with other professions. Many teachers are also burdened by the college debt they take on. New teachers also pay for health care costs and the PERA burden of correcting underfunding in the 1990s and 2000s. A tax request to increase salaries for new teachers and to reduce or eliminate their student debt burden will attract more people to the profession.

Education advocates took their first shot with Proposition CC, which lacked the dedicated commitment of many people, especially in high government office, to its success. To win on the second shot, education advocates should select precise needs for money that Coloradans can collectively agree make sense. They should create a revenue source that addresses those specific needs, whether it’s a sales tax or income tax, as examples. They should insure that the funds will go into accounts that address only those needs, with no mixing into the general fund.

Finally, they’ll need to get every school district, service organization, education association, charter school association, and state government leader all in on the request. Then they’ll get their victory.

Paula Noonan owns Colorado Capitol Watch, the state’s premier legislature tracking platform.